FGCU MGolf: FAU Spring Championship Day Three Recap

 The FGCU men's golf team posted one of the lowest rounds in recent history in Sunday's final round to tie for fourth at the FAU Spring Championship, which was contested at the par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club.

The Green and Blue shot 10-under-par 278 as a team Sunday, which was the third-lowest round of the Coach Eric Booker era (since 2015). They finished at a season-best total of 11-under 853 (288-287-278) along with Houston Baptist (295-280-278). UCF, by far the top-ranked team in the field at No. 75 nationally, won the event at 35-under 829 (286-275-268). Host Florida Atlantic finished runner-up at 26-under 838 (286-279-273), while Southern Illinois landed in third at 15-under 849 (290-284-275).

The Eagles – sitting at No. 148 in the most-recent GolfStat rankings – bested two teams ranked ahead of them in No. 135 UConn and No. 136 Miami (OH). Both teams tied for seventh at 4-under 860.

"That was a much better day from us as a team, but there is definitely plenty of room for improvement," Booker said. "Managing our game continues to be a focus point during the shot-making process. I feel we're still making progress and that's important."

Sophomore Cole Castro eagled a par 4 and shot 5-under on the front 9 to propel into a tie for fifth at 8-under 208 (68-71-69). His career-best score was the lowest three-round total by an Eagle since Edward Figueroa shot 204 at the 2013 Cobra-PUMA Invitational.

Senior Andrew Potter made a blistering seven birdies to shoot a team-best 67 and finish T-16 at 4-under 212 (70-75-67). Sunday's round was the second-lowest of his career and his best score since shooting 66 as an individual at this same event his freshman year.

Castro and Potter both tied for second in the entire field in par-5 scoring as each shot 7-under on the longest holes on the course. Potter was also second overall in par-3 scoring at 1-under.

True freshman Tate Heintzelman shot a round in the 60's for the second time this season as he vaulted up the leaderboard into a tie for 21st at 1-under 215 (74-72-69).

Classmate Chase Bigham finished fourth in the field with 38 pars to help tie for 48th at 5-over 221 (76-72-73), while sophomore J.T. Barker landed T-67 at 12-over 228 (79-72-77).

UCF's Bobby Bai completed his wire-to-wire medalist performance and finished at 16-under 200 (67-67-66). Teammate Kyler Tate remained solo second at 12-under 204 (70-67-67).

FAU SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP – Final Results
March 29-31, 2019 at Boca Raton, Fla.
(par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club)

Team Results
1. #75 UCF 286-275-268=829 (-35)
2. #168 Florida Atlantic 286-279-273=838 (-26)
3. #133 Southern Illinois 290-284-275=849 (-15)
T4. #148 FGCU 288-287-278=853 (-11)
#228 Houston Baptist 295-280-278=853 (-11)
6. #177 Bethune-Cookman 282-289-284=855 (-9)
T7. #135 UConn 296-278-286=860 (-4)
#136 Miami (OH) 292-285-283=860 (-4)
T9. #193 George Mason 292-286-286=864 (E)
#197 Georgetown 295-287-282=864 (E)
11. #227 Rhode Island 299-290-287=876 (+12)
T12. #251 Hartford 295-295-294=884 (+20)
#241 Murray State 306-294-284=884 (+20)
14. #195 Xavier 316-294-287=897 (+33)

Rankings reflect the latest Golfstat Rankings
Top-5 Individuals
1. Bobby Bai (UCF) 67-67-66=200 (-16)
2. Kyler Tate (UCF) 70-67-67=204 (-12)
3. Sully Zagerman (Florida Atlantic) 69-70-66=205 (-11)
4. Nicko Martinez (Houston Baptist) 74-65-68=207 (-9)
T5. Cole Castro (FGCU) 68-71-69=208 (-8)
Peyton Wilhoit (Southern Illinois) 72-70-66=208 (-8)
Charlie Nikitas (Miami) 73-68-67=208 (-8)

FGCU Individuals
T5. Cole Castro 68-71-69=208 (-8)
T16. Andrew Potter 70-75-67=212 (-4)
T21. Tate Heintzelman 74-72-69=215 (-1)
T48. Chase Bigham 76-72-73=221 (+5)
T67. J.T. Barker 79-72-77=228 (+12)

Up Next:
FGCU has one more tournament before heading to Braselton, Georgia, for the A-SUN Championships (April 21-23). The final tuneup for the Green and Blue will be at the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate April 9-10 in Nashville, Tennessee.